The Supreme Court yesterday increased the sentence for a former schoolteacher while maintaining the sentence for another, after both were convicted of taking schoolgirls under 15 away from their parents for lewd acts, illegal detention and rape.
The case occurred at a school in Bangkok's Sai Mai district in 2006.
The court increased the sentence yesterday from 12 years, to 19 years and three months for Lon Sorakanit, 68, a former school teacher in Sai Mai district, who was found guilty of multiple rapes, including that of a 7-year old girl.
Lon was among two defendants convicted of detaining, assaulting and raping minors at schools, a teacher's quarters and a hotel in 2006.
The court also upheld the Appeal Court's decision to hand down a 12-year prison sentence to the second defendant, Pimon Chunsri, 58, a physical education teacher.
The court ruled Lon guilty of the illegal detention and rape of girls under 13, and handed down an additional seven years and three months after evidence indicated his wrongdoing with the victims, students in his school.
The evidence in one instance referred to a witness who said she saw Lon come from a room where a victim was raped, while the victim was crying for help.
The witness took the victim from the room and reported the rape to her parents. The victim's mother said she found a blood stain on her daughter's leg.
A physical check-up of the victim found signs of rape, according to the court.
The court read out its ruling concerning the defendants on charges of illegal detention, assault and rape of girls between June 1 and Aug 10, 2006.
Both defendants had also colluded to deceive five girls, bringing them to a hotel and then assaulting and raping them. In another case, one girl was lured to a washroom where she was raped.
On Nov 20, 2007, the Criminal Court handed down 50-year jail terms for the two defendants.
On Sep 7, 2012, the Appeal Court overruled a lower court's decision and ordered the defendants to 12-year prison sentences each, citing some unclear evidence and statements from the defence. Lon and Pimon have been in Bangkok Remand Prison since 2007 following the Criminal Court's decision.